


The White Room

by CharlieTheAstr0naut



Series: D:BH Whumpfics [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Whump, Gavin Reed is a good boyfriend, Gavin Reed isn't an asshole, Hank Anderson (mentioned) - Freeform, Hurt Upgraded Connor | RK900, M/M, Mentions of other explicit material, Protective Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Whump, Whump, Whumpfic, mentions of gore, mentions of torture, reed900
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27251374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieTheAstr0naut/pseuds/CharlieTheAstr0naut
Summary: Nines is tasked with taking down certain websites that host illegal content. After skimming through several in the past few days, he comes across one that leaves him feeling disturbed and emotional.[Or: Nines is traumatized by the internet. Gavin is the best boyfriend.]
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: D:BH Whumpfics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927261
Comments: 1
Kudos: 85





	The White Room

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Reed900 fic. I'm not totally familiar with the ship. In fact, it's not really my cup of tea. But I figured I'd experiment with it a bit.

It had been a fairly calm week for the most part. There were no severe investigations taking place or needed to be addressed, so all that was left was paperwork and reports. For Nines, however, he had been assigned something rather different, compared to what the other detectives were working on. Fowler had questioned Nines about his skill in technology, to which Nines answered he was more advanced than a hacker from Anonymous. The captain then informed him about several websites that allegedly hosted illegal activity, ones of which have been reported, yet nothing had been done about them. Nines’ job was simple: To look into the websites, take them down if they were in fact, as Fowler claimed, illegal, as well as list down any potential suspects behind these sites if he could. 

There were a lot of websites that did contain very odd material, ones that Nines could not understand why a human would be looking at it in the first place. He showed a few of those sites to Gavin, who often laughed or was just weirded out at the sight of the material. Yes, a lot of these websites were peculiar, but nothing illegal. Nines speculated that the person who reported these sites was a freaked out individual who simply never visited the wild side of the internet

A few times, Nines did flag down illegal websites, such as ones that contained the sale of drugs, as well as sites that were hosting pedophilic rings. Of those he found, Nines skimmed through them to find the identities of those who were behind those websites as best as he could, shortly before removing it completely off the web. He felt filthy after looking at some of those sites, and, secretly, a disgust for the human race. 

Eventually, Nines would come across a certain website that gave no indication of what it was going to be showing. CyberRR.net, it read. Nines hypothesized that it could potentially be a site that illegally markets android biocomponents, but little did he know, he couldn’t be further away from the truth. 

Upon opening the browser, Nines was taken to a page that only showed a timer, counting down and starting at 48:26:47. Two days, twenty-six minutes, forty-seven seconds, and counting. Had he known what was going to be shown when the timer ended, Nines would’ve shut down the website immediately. Yet at the moment, he had no idea what the site was. There were no other links to click on, and the timer by itself wasn’t enough evidence to show that the site was dangerous. All Nines had to do was wait, and during that time, he continued to examine other reported websites that hosted the same thing: Sale of illegal drugs, child pornography, and a few scamming websites as well, and all of which he immediately took down. 

Two days had passed. Twenty-six minutes were gone. Forty seven seconds were counting down.

A chatbox had appeared in the corner of the screen, and people were typing, expressing their hype for what was to come. At ten seconds, a screen popped up behind the timer, blank at first, and the chat counted down with the timer in disarray, and in his mind, he counted down too.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One…

* * *

All it took was a quick glance at Nines for Gavin to notice something was off. The android’s LED was spinning and blinking a violent red. 

“Nines?” Gavin tore his gaze away from his game of solitaire, “Hey, tincan, you good?”

No response. Nothing but a quick glance in Gavin’s direction before abruptly going back to looking at the screen. However, it answered his question. Nines was in fact not good at all. The computer lighting reflected off the tear that built on the edges of his eyes, and he trembled slightly, as if trying to keep himself composed. 

“Hey…” Gavin stood up, walking around his desk and walking over to stand beside Nines, “Nines?”

Gavin found himself looking down at the computer with him, and on the screen was a disembodied android. Their limbs and biocomponents were tossed all over the white room, painting it in blue. In the corner of the screen was a chat box, where people had expressed their sadistic joy over what had become of the android. Gavin soon found himself speechless and frozen as well, the only movement being his comforting hand resting on Nines’ shoulder, knowing that he saw _everything_ that had happened. 

When Gavin found himself moving again, he leaned over the desk slightly so that he could close out of the browser before turning his attention back to Nines, who was still shaken. 

“Come on,” He said so gently, placing his hands on the sides of Nines’ body so that he wouldn’t lose his balance while he helped him stand.

“Gavin…” he finally said, almost in an inaudible whisper. 

“I know…”

With his hands resting on his back and shoulder, Gavin guided Nines into the break room. He made him sit down, intertwining his hand with his. For a while, they only sat in silence. Gavin knew that Nines wasn’t going to be talking about what he just saw, but he was patient, ready to listen when the android was ready to talk.

“I…” Nines finally began, after what felt like an eternity of silence, “I couldn’t identify anyone… They all wore masks…”

“Nines-”

“But I identified the android… He’s a WG100… Are there any missing cases regarding-”

“Nines. Fuck the website, okay? We’ll get that all sorted out later.”

Nines glanced at Gavin, who continued, “Tell me how you’re feeling.”

The detective already knew the answer to that, but he wanted to hear it from Nines’ mouth. The android bit his lip, his LED spinning as he searched for the right words. But nothing came out. Slowly, Nines hunched over in his seat, tensing up and letting out a choked weep. He turned away, trying to hide the emotions that were to come. Gavin forgot about his role as a professional detective, switching to, instead, the role of being someone who was genuine and loving.

“No. Don’t hold it back,” He cooed, “Don’t bottle it up. Let it out.”

Nines, however, continued to hold back. If there was something in common he shared with his brother, it was that he was bad at dealing with emotions. He was almost trembling as he attempted to keep his composure, brushing away his tears, sitting up straight, and glancing at the ceiling as if he thought that would somehow prevent his emotions from emerging. But more tears slid down his face, his chest heaving and jerking as he let out choked breaths and weeps. 

Gavin had his arms wrapped around Nines, wanting to protect him from any harm that came his way, but conflicted with the thought that it had already reached him. Nines held onto Gavin, gripping at the sleeves of his jacket, and turning his head to stifle his cries into his chest. 

Few people had passed by the break room and had stopped briefly to observe the connection between a ratty detective and an android that barely expressed any emotion. All it took for them to leave was a threatening glare from Gavin, whose eyes would soften up when he looked back over at Nines. The next person who walked by was Connor, who originally came to get Hank a mug of coffee. That task was forgotten when he saw the sight of his broken brother. 

“Nines?” He placed the mug on the counter, “Hey. What’s wrong?”

He glanced at Gavin for an answer when Nines provided none. 

Gavin replied, “Something shook him up pretty badly…” 

“I’m fine…!” Nines barely managed to choke out.

“No, you’re not.”

Connor seemed to understand that Gavin’s main focus was on Nines, who wasn’t in a great headspace to be sharing anything at the moment. He nodded, rubbing his hand on Nines’ shoulder comfortingly. 

“If you don’t have anything serious to work on, why don’t you both head home for today?” Connor commented. 

“That may be a good idea…” Gavin glanced down at the android buried in his chest, unsure if he had heard what Connor said, “Nines? Hey, we’re going home, okay?” 

“The website-” 

“We’ll get rid of that shit later.”

Gavin guided Nines to stand up.

“I’ll tell Fowler of your departure,” Connor said, walking away.

Gavin had his hand on Nines’ back, walking the two of them out of the precinct. Halfway out the door, Gavin felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He had received a message from Connor, simply saying, _“Take care of him…”_

* * *

Nines spent the past few hours sleeping since they got home. Gavin has come to call this specific nap “stress sleeping” since it normally happened after a stressful event has taken place, like a difficult case or a burnout from paperwork. Nines would spend an hour or more in stasis, and when he woke up, he would be in a much more calmer and clearer headspace. Gavin would often leave Nines alone in those moments, but this time, he didn’t. He was cuddled up right next to the android, his arms wrapped around his waist. Occasionally, he would press a gentle kiss on the back of his neck. 

Nines breathed in deeply, before his body suddenly twitched. His face scrunched up in distress, and his body tensed and curled, as if he was trying to get away from something. Gavin sat up, shaking him, “Nines? Nines, wake up.” 

His eyes shot open, almost flinching away from Gavin’s touch, who patiently and gently cooed, “Babe, it’s me- It’s me.”

Nines looked anxiously around the room, fear pulsing violently in his eyes and his LED continuously spinning red. 

“You’re safe, Nines,” Gavin ran his hand through Nines’ hair, “It was just a nightmare.”

While Gavin’s statement didn’t seem like enough to convince Nines that he was alright, it did help him loosen up, practically melting back into Gavin’s embrace, who had wrapped his arms around his waist once more. Nines swallowed hard, bringing his hands down to hold onto Gavin’s. 

“I was in the room…” He said quietly, “I heard voices, and-... They were cheering for someone to rip me apart… They were going to cut my fingers off first.”

Gavin only nuzzled his head into Nines’ shoulder, sighing deeply as he could feel his blood beginning to boil. 

“I was scared…” Nines choked out, his voice beginning to waver, “ _I was so scared…_ ”

Gavin hummed, pressing a soft kiss to Nines’ shoulder and pulled him closer. This need to protect was strong now. 

“No one’s gonna hurt you,” Gavin placed his hand on the side of Nines’ face, guiding him to look over, “No one.” 

Nines parted his lips, intending to say something, but shortly after closing the space between him and Gavin. The kiss was gentle and short, but was good enough to give Nines a sense of safety and tranquility. He no longer thought of the white room smeared in blood stains that only he could see; He no longer thought of the torturers approaching him with pliers. All his thoughts and senses were replaced with Gavin. 

_You’re here… You’re safe… No one is going to hurt you…_

Gavin broke away, nuzzling his forehead up against Nines, “Okay…?”

Nines let out an inaudible sigh, nodding. Shortly after, he began drifting off once more, resting his head against the pillow before falling back into stasis. Gavin resumed his resting position, but did not rest, instead keeping a tight and protective grip around Nines. 

“I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Gavin whispered one last time before falling silent. Nines hadn’t completely fallen into stasis, as he responded by moving his hand to intertwine with Gavin’s.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: There was supposed to be a smut scene included in this fic. But I got nervous that it would be too cringy and "elgh".


End file.
